NSW Planning Panel rejects to plans for 181 homes on Derriwong Rd, Dural

A multimillion-dollar planning proposal has been struck down by the planning panel, who noted the character of rural Dural is changing.

A planning proposal has been rejected to build homes in a semirural part of Dural, despite a call that the suburb’s face was changing.

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Plans for hundreds of homes to be introduced to the rural suburb of Dural have been rejected by the Hills Shire Council planning panel, following a series of concerns around lot sizes and access to the site.

The multimillion-dollar planning proposal, which will still go before Hills Shire councillors for determination, would see 181 homes constructed at Old Northern Rd and Derriwong Rd, Dural if the plans were also supported by the NSW Planning Department.

A council planning manager recommended the planning proposal be supported by the Hills Local Planning Panel and be forwarded to the Planning Department for consideration and Gateway Assessment, “to determine State Government agency views on the merits of the planning proposal”.

The development would have impacted only one side of Old Northern Rd.

However, the planning representative also raised several concerns to the NSW Planning Department including the need to increase the proposed minimum lot size at key locations, “in order to soften the impact of the development on the Old Northern Road ridge line and enable better visual transition between the development and surrounding rural land”.

The manager also raised concerns around access to the site and its impact on a planned arterial bypass road.

Hills Local Planning Panel member Alf Lester questioned developer Urbis’ description of 600sq m lot sizes as being “large”.

“These are not large rural lots,” Mr Lester told a spokeswoman for Urbis.

“This is not an urban release area, if approved, we would see development and homes on one side of the road and open fields on the other side.”

The Round Corner Bypass would link Annangrove Rd to Old Northern and New Line roads.

A spokeswoman for Urbis argued “the character of Dural is changing” and “we need to consider the sustainable growth of rural town centres and deliver infrastructure upgrades benefiting future residents and existing residents”.

If approved, the proposal would enable the delivery of a proposed Round Corner Bypass, which would link Annangrove Rd to Old Northern and New Line roads.

A Hills Shire Council planning manager said the proposed connection is a “strategic road link that would enable better east-west access from the growth areas, such as North Kellyville, to jobs and services in the east”.

“It would also improve the operation of Round Corner, by reducing through traffic and congestion,” the planning manager said.

“The proposed bypass road would ultimately form part of the arterial road network and, as such, would be under the control of Roads and Maritime Services.”

Panel Chair Julie Walsh said she and other members recommended the planning proposal not go to the NSW Planning Department for gateway determination as it “does not demonstrate strategic merit and may have an adverse impact on the Dural community”.